„Technical monitoring, safety, environmental protection… these are all topics at the core of TÜV, meaning they've been in our DNA for 150 years. At RWTÜV, and especially with the RWTÜV Foundation, we connect this origin with the future, meaning with research, science, and innovation.
Dr. Fabian Fechner, Deputy Chairman of the RWTÜV Foundation.
Since 2007, RWTÜV Foundation and the donor RWTÜV e.V. have been supporting research, science, and educational initiatives at the institutional level. Universities and other institutions for research and teaching receive grants from the Board of Directors and the Board of Trustees to fulfill the foundation's purpose. In 2022, the bylaws were amended to allow for grants to be awarded to institutions serving the common good. Additionally, the RWTÜV Foundation's Board of Directors, comprising Thomas Biedermann and Dr. Fabian Fechner, ensured that grants could also be provided to forward-looking professorships, that their own calls for proposals could be created, and that the funding of Bachelor's and Master's theses could be made possible.
For demographic change, combined with a growing shortage of skilled workers, presents a unique challenge to a service group like RWTÜV. Likewise, rapid and sometimes disruptive changes in the construction industry, the automotive and telecommunications industries, the energy market, and the digital world are testing the companies of the RWTÜV Group. „We counter this with intensive promotion of innovative ideas as well as science and research in topics important to our business areas, in order to actively shape the future and our success!“ says CEO Thomas Biedermann, outlining the foundation's ambitions.
The change to the foundation’s mission several years ago has made it possible to better reflect the group’s international focus, as it generates over 60% of its revenue abroad. As a result, funding projects within the EU and the United Kingdom have been launched in recent years.
Continuity, on the other hand, exists with the Board of Trustees; it continues to be composed of members Ulrich Kanders, Dr. Peter Sauermann, Elisabeth Bienbeck-Ketelhohn, Dr. Hans Christian Atzpodien, Prof. Dr. Barbara Albert, and Prof. Dr. Katharina Kohls (PhD).
The cooperation with the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), within the framework of which twelve scholarship holders in the fields of electrical engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, and IT are supported, continues to be successful. The supported students, who come from countries such as Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and of course Germany and Europe, will receive support not only for the usual one year but for three to four years, from the first semester until graduation. They will also be assisted in their search for internships, working student positions, bachelor's and master's thesis opportunities, and, last but not least, in their career choices.
At Maastricht University, the RWTÜV Foundation is sponsoring a doctoral degree abroad in direct thematic connection with the activities of subsidiary Van Ameyde. In the field of „International Insurance Law,“ a legal thesis is being produced on the topic of cross-border insurance claims settlement. The focus is on the „Green Card,“ developed in 1965 with the participation of Van Ameyde founder Henri van Ameyde, and how it can be successfully transitioned into a globalized and digitized future within and outside the EU. The „Green Card“ is a widely recognized proof of motor vehicle liability insurance in many countries, covering damages (e.g., from accidents) caused by the insured to third parties.
A so-called „Critical Experiment“ continues at the University of Liverpool, funded by the RWTÜV Foundation. It concerns the experimental verification of the correct loading of a nuclear reactor with nuclear fuel, for the purpose of a doctoral thesis leading to the establishment of an energy source of the future, Small Modular Reactors. This therefore represents an indispensable future technology within the field of RWTÜV group company TÜV NORD. At TUM, the Technical University of Munich, a doctoral thesis on energy generation is also underway, supported by the RWTÜV Foundation, covering classic areas of activity for RWTÜV subsidiaries CONSULECTRA and Enoplan. Here, a molten salt storage system is being researched, intended to serve as a scalable grid-based energy storage system to ensure the balance of the entire energy system. Molten salt can absorb surplus electricity from the grid and release it again, depending on supply and demand in the electricity market.
In a research project funded by the RWTÜV Foundation and the NRW government, ewa – eurobits women academy successfully completed the qualification of career changers into cybersecurity experts with nearly twenty participants in two groups. They received their certificates from NRW Minister for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy Mona Neubaur at a celebratory closing event. Through a practical approach, key competencies in IT security and cybersecurity were imparted via online and in-person workshops with eight learning modules. These skills are urgently needed in the job market amidst the increasing digital threat landscape. The RWTÜV Foundation is supporting the conclusion of the pilot phase and the transition to a commercial offering, ensuring this funded project also makes its way into the corporate world. „We hope that many more participants will take advantage of the further training on this topic, which is so important for the German economy, and that the proportion of women in IT security will significantly increase,“ wish Thomas Biedermann and Dr. Fabian Fechner.